What to do with my external HD?

Joined
Jan 21, 2010
Messages
31
Reaction score
0
Points
6
I have an 500GB external HD which was a bit old, and I was afraid it may not last much longer (It may last 50 more year for all I know though). I bought a new 1TB external which I partitioned to have a Time Machine backup, and bootable backup, and a partition to hold all my movies so my MacBook is not bogged down with the large file sizes. I still have my old one, and do not know what to do with it. I've though about loading on Windows or Ubuntu, but do not know if I would ever use it. any ideas out there?
 
Joined
May 18, 2008
Messages
3,612
Reaction score
95
Points
48
Location
Amberley, Canterbury, New Zealand
Your Mac's Specs
MacMini 14.3, 8.1 & 4.1, OS 13.5, 10.14, & 10.11 & 10.6; Macbook Pro 8.2, OS 10.12.
OP
ShawnBoucke
Joined
Jan 21, 2010
Messages
31
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Yes, I have already put it in an enclosure. I just do not know what to use it for. I already have a time machine backup, a bootable backup, and a storage for my media partitioned on a larger external HD. What can I do with my old one. Is there any need to load Ubuntu, or Windows. I don't think I would ever need it. Should I make another backup incase both drives fail at the same time? What's your opinion?
 
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
2,132
Reaction score
63
Points
48
Location
Lincoln Nebraska
Your Mac's Specs
late 08 macbook 2.0 4gig 320hdd10.7.3 32 gig iPhone 4s
Good job on the back-ups ! If you dont need the hdd now just keep it handy at some point everyone needs more space.

Clay
 
Joined
May 18, 2008
Messages
3,612
Reaction score
95
Points
48
Location
Amberley, Canterbury, New Zealand
Your Mac's Specs
MacMini 14.3, 8.1 & 4.1, OS 13.5, 10.14, & 10.11 & 10.6; Macbook Pro 8.2, OS 10.12.
Should I make another backup incase both drives fail at the same time? What's your opinion?

First, congratulations on being well organized with your drives.

Second, in your situation I'd use that 500 as a backup to your partitioned storage. I'm no expert on drive partitions, but I do notice threads on occasions about access problems. You can think of it too as an archive of movies which you can take to your friends' places to view on their massive monitors :Evil:.
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
1,466
Reaction score
47
Points
48
Your Mac's Specs
2.8 GHz 15" MacBook Pro OS X 10.7.x & some old Macs
...and a storage for my media partitioned on a larger external HD. What can I do with my old one.
I would use your old drive to make a redundant backup to your storage media. The downside of partitioning your hard drive that much is that if something physically happens to your hard drive then you will loss all the partitions.

Losing the Time Machine and bootable backup isn't so bad because you will still have a copy on your computer unless you lose all 3 at the same time but if your storage media is the single copy then it will be gone. Since you are not using your old hard drive for anything, you might as well use it for a redundant backup.
 
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
2,132
Reaction score
63
Points
48
Location
Lincoln Nebraska
Your Mac's Specs
late 08 macbook 2.0 4gig 320hdd10.7.3 32 gig iPhone 4s
I would use your old drive to make a redundant backup to your storage media. The downside of partitioning your hard drive that much is that if something physically happens to your hard drive then you will loss all the partitions.

Losing the Time Machine and bootable backup isn't so bad because you will still have a copy on your computer unless you lose all 3 at the same time but if your storage media is the single copy then it will be gone. Since you are not using your old hard drive for anything, you might as well use it for a redundant backup.

I was going to suggest this but I would have added that if going to use it for a redundant back-up then you might as well go one step further and keep it off site as well . The odds of both of your back-up drives failing without some outside force ( break-in , fire , flood etc ) are slim so.....

I have a TM back-up A CCC back-up sitting an my desk as well as a CCC back-up of my buddys system( and he has one of mine ). WE use this as an excuse to go to the others home every couple of weeks to have a beer or two under the guise of refreshing our back-ups!

Clay
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
1,466
Reaction score
47
Points
48
Your Mac's Specs
2.8 GHz 15" MacBook Pro OS X 10.7.x & some old Macs
WE use this as an excuse to go to the others home every couple of weeks to have a beer or two under the guise of refreshing our back-ups!
Everyone knows that's the real reason why people should have off site backups. ;D
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top